by Randy Ritz

A skilled speaker will often use a story to communicate with their audience, making use of physical skills such as gesture or movement, or even simple character roles, to present a well-told story. Instead of presenting dry information, this holistic story-telling approach engages both the mind and body to create a memorable “event.” Yes, facts are necessary, but a story is one effective way to combine facts, context, emotion and movement together.

Why did Jesus use stories?

Jesus was a master storyteller – a teller of parables that were the core of an effective teaching style. Now, you might expect the Son of God to have divined a more sophisticated way to teach and challenge an audience – a method that used something other than narratives. But He didn’t. As much I love theatre, Jesus didn’t have His disciples form a drama troupe, rehearse topical religious sketches and perform them on make-shift stages across Palestine. (Can you imagine Peter doing a creative movement routine as one of the foolish virgins from Mathew 25 – waking up and, with crafted gesture and anguished look, beseeching someone from the audience to provide the oil needed for his lamp?)

So why did Jesus use stories? Stories allow the audience to vicariously become the character in a narrative. By placing ourselves in the character’s shoes we can ourselves experience the character’s struggles in that particular situation: the victories, the joys, the challenges, the humour, the suspense, the fear. And in doing so, we are encouraged to learn the lessons connected to that character.

The great thing about a story is that the listener (or reader) can grasp the significance of the lesson even if the protagonist in the story did not. In other words, even though the character may fail, the audience can still learn a life lesson. When Jesus bids Peter to step from the boat and stand with Him on the storming seas, it’s easy for the readers or listeners to imagine themselves in that situation, at that very moment in time. Would they have stepped out on the rolling water? Would they also sink into the seas in a moment of unbelief? What does this teach them about their faith – about their willingness to follow Jesus wherever He may lead?

The “aha” moment

Stories give the audience the “felt experience” of a situation that otherwise might be only an intellectual concept. This felt experience provides a different type of insight for the listener; it’s an opportunity to explore the essence of a topic, life situation or life experience. (For more information on this topic, look up the concept of phenomenology – the study of the essence of experience.)

In a story, characters go through a journey (psychological, physical or spiritual) and the audience shares the journey with the character. At the end of the story, key characters learn something about themselves and, as vicarious participants in the story, the audience learns something, too. This discovery has, at times, been called the “aha” moment because the listener discovers the kernel of truth or the life lesson embedded in the story.

The discovery experience of the “aha” moment is profound and makes the insight personal – the listener, or the reader, owns it. This is why stories are considered powerful support material for sermons. Stories provide another perspective on any topic and fill in the emotional context for the main points of a presentation – the points that facts, statistics and stated truths alone cannot always provide.

 
Dr. Randy Ritz is a passionate educator, actor and communication coach. He helps leaders use the power of narrative to transmit vision, values and history to others in an entertaining manner. He is currently head of drama at Concordia University College and can be found at Randyritz.com.